WV: I am William Vincent and today I am interviewing Vernon Patterson. Will you tell us how and when you first became associated with CorningCommunity College and how long you have been associated with it?

VP: I first became acquainted with the college when I was on the Corning School Board in 1956 or '57. They had a referendum that consolidated several local one- and two-room schools into one big city district. Part of that thing that we voted on was to have the authority to create a community college, which was created in 1956, I believe. I don’t have the number offhand, Bill, the year. You probably have that. It was created, it was voted through. It took a few years to do it but we eventually had a community college up on the hill at Corning. I was on the school board for 10 years and I used to come to the trustees’ meetings as president of the school board. In 1984, I got appointed by SteubenCounty as a trustee.

WV: You probably knew Dr. William Perry then.

VP: I knew him, yes.

WV: It was the study that he was commissioned to do as to the need for a community college in Corning.

VP: HarvardUniversity commissioned the study and he was selected to do the study. He also was our first president of the college and did a fine job!

WV: I understand that the study also included a recommendation?

VP: That’s right, for the school district to sponsor the college. Then much later we got in a financial bind. I mean, the school district just couldn’t pay their share, which was about one-third of the operating costs. Then we looked all around and got the state legislature to come up with the new legislation that made us a regional college with SteubenCounty, SchuylerCounty and ChemungCounty. Basically, we are sponsored by those three counties. They pay their share of the chargebacks per full-time student and we don’t rely on any other political body for our income and operating expenses. We are basically our own boss on that. We set the budget. No one approves the budget but the trustees and, of course, we select our president when necessary and the trustees do that. We can’t go back to a county or another body and say, “We need money.” We are our own boss.

WV: Also the Houghtons played a role in developing this college, did they not?

VP: They played a major role, as did what was known as Corning Glass Works. It’s now Corning Incorporated. The foundation, the Corning Glass Foundation, gave, I think, the one-half that was necessary to get the state matching half to build the basic college. Of course, Mr. Arthur Houghton owned a lot of the property, also the property and house that we housed the president in originally. We have since built a new house for the president.

WV: In my memory, Corning was, I think, the only community college that didn’t have a capital debt at the beginning because the Houghtons paid the sponsor’s half.

VP: That’s right, the sponsor’s half. Now we pay it ourselves.

WV: Who were some of the colleagues or contemporaries with whom you worked at the college and what do you remember best about what their contribution was to the enterprise?

VP: At the college, of course, I worked very closely with the chairperson of the trustees. They were all appointed in 1956 but the early ones have been replaced by the governor or the sponsors. As I say, as president of the school board only, I attended the trustees meetings and, of course, I knew quite a few of the trustees because quite a few of them were Corning people and Corning Glass Works people. They were all appointed really by the governor and the city school district. That changed just before I got on the board. They were all leading citizens of the area and very active and well-known.

WV: Do you remember particular individuals who were really active on behalf of CorningCommunity College?

VP: Oh, yes. I remember a couple of names; Paul Clark, who was the vice president of the glass works, the dentist, those types of people. They were basically all local people, Corning, Painted Post people, because it was sponsored by the city school district.

WV: Wasn’t Janet…?

VP: Janet Richardson. I followed Janet as chairperson of the board. Janet is still with us and very active. I knew Janet real well, naturally, because when I first got on the board, she was the chairperson and she really knew her job. She was very active in the state association, too, with the Association of Community College Trustees. I haven’t gotten there yet and I don’t think I’m going to. You can cut that out if you want.

WV: Did you get to know members of the faculty and staff? Which ones were most interesting or helpful to the college?

VP: I can’t say that I got to know any except the top administrators. When you’re talking staff now, no, I didn’t get real close to the staff until I got to be a trustee. Then I spent a lot of time with Burgess looking around, walking around, so I know quite a few members of the staff. Of course, the main administrative staff, I know them all through the trustees because they always come to all the trustees meetings.

WV: I'm told you were good friends with Jack Keller.

VP: Jack’s a neighbor of mine and I’ve known Jack for a long, long time.

WV: Jack was dean of students at the college.

VP: Dean of students, that’s right, and very active in the community also.

WV: Just retired?

VP: He just retired and just became the grandfather of triplets. I see Jack once in a while. Of course, he’s up at the lake right now, but he was an asset to the college and an asset to the student body. They all went to Jack when they had a problem.

WV: Are there any faculty members that you think,in your role of trustee, who made particular contributions, who sort of stood out?

VP: You’re pinning me down on names now. I have problems with that! Some of the faculty members…you know we have a union now. So the people whochairthe various divisions, I’ve known them for a long time. One man comes to mind. He now reports directly to the president and he’s done a fantastic job like Jack Kelley did. With Jack, if I had a question about the college, especially about students, Jack was the one to go to. In the community, too.

WV: A very conscientious gentleman.

VP: Well, he was. But anyway, I wouldn’t say I got too close to anyone in particular, but I knew quite a few of them. I knew a lot of people in the math division. I was on the Committee for Governance on the 10-year thing that we get every year…

WV: The review.

VP: The review, yes. I got to know a lot of the…he was very active. That’s another one. The guy that runs the…the astronomer, he’s as old as I am but he’s been here forever, too.

WV: Jack Anderson?

VP: No, Jack retired, certainly, after I got off the board. No, he’s still with us. Wears sweaters all the time.

WV: Marv Bundt, maybe?

VP: No, no. He’s a science teacher of some sort. I know his name as well as I know my own.

WV: He’s probably been here a long time.

VP: Yes, he’s been here a long time. He’s basically in charge of the telescope now. I’ll think of it. Oh, yes, his name is Larry Josbeno, a fine teacher, revered by the students and a professor of physics.

WV: Were there ever any town/gown problems or problems in the relationship with the college sponsors?

VP: No, I can’t think of any. There was no problem in getting the college built. How can there be a problem when you’re given all the money and the ground to do it? There was no problem there. They started out, as you know, in old School #3 and there were a few people and gradually got to where we are now. But as time went on, there was a little bit of concern about the amount of taxes that were in their tax bill. It got to the point where, when they sent the tax bills out, they had to put down how much was for CorningCommunity College. Of course, then as we said earlier, it got to the point where the school district just couldn’t afford that charge because the charge was getting larger and larger, because the population, the number of students, not only young students out of high school but older people, there were more and more of them coming. So that was the biggest concern that I can think of.

WV: Wasn’t there some controversy over the three-county sponsorship then that some where more anxious to join in than others?

VP: I didn’t pick that up because founding the college was part of the original vote to consolidate all these forty-some little school districts in the area. The college was part of that vote, and once they passed, “Yes, we think it’s a good idea to have a college.”

WV: But I mean after the sponsorship became too onerous for the school district, to form an alliance with Steuben, Chemung and Schuyler…

VP: We didn’t have a great problem except for the capital charge backs. The basic rules for the charge backs for the FTEs (student enrollments), we didn’t have any problem with that. The State sets the top amount and I don’t know of any community college in the State that isn’t charging that top amount now.

WV: Even Corning is now.

VP: Yes. Well, I think we’re all over it a little bit, but it was the capital charge back that we had trouble with ChemungCounty. Our capital charge back was $200.00 per FTE and all the rest of the community colleges were at $300.00. We finally got Chemung to agree with the other two counties. They had agreed, “We’ll all do it or none of us do it.” So we’re doing pretty well. Well, capital projects, that’s why we have all the noise out there.

WV: But that was very recent, wasn’t it?

VP: That was recent. This is the first full year that we got the capital charge back up from $200.00 to $300.00.

WV: This one isn’t very pertinent because of the uniqueness of Corning, but the question is, when did collective bargaining come to the campus and what do you remember about how it affected the campus? Were there any special problems or achievements?

VP: Well, we’ve only had it…we’re in our first full year. We’re at the end of our first full year. We will probably start negotiations some time in the spring of next year for the next contract. It’s a three-year contract. No, I haven’t seen any real disturbance at all. I think the problem is most of the faculty don’t realize now the difference between operating in a union environment and a total collegial environment. There is a difference. There has to be and it’s too bad, I think. But we had what you call…the first negotiation was very simple and that’s because we had quite a few things in writing. Like we have a trustees’ sort of a handbook that has all of the trustees’ things in that we voted; retirement, the health, all that stuff. It was already there. Now, the things that caused the problems…see, according to law, the department heads are not members of the union. They’re supervisors. They have direct supervision. That will be resolved one day but, you know, some department heads agree it won’t change their method of operating at all, but others say, “Well, we should have a union.” It’s not a serious problem, but they are learning about their rights and whatnot. They basically feel that everything is negotiable but that’s not the case.

WV: Do you recall how the college worked to develop the campus and the buildings? What were the changes that came about in this area? What were the problems?

VP: I can’t help you on that. I don’t know of any problems because the people mostly were interested in getting a college. Things went pretty smoothly.

WV: But the original campus was downtown?

VP: Yes, they started out in old School #3 and I forget how many students they had. There was never a campus as such because, once the campus was approved by the voters and the Glass Works put up the dough and the property, they went right to town. I can’t tell you the name of the architect right now, but it was very calm for a long time.

WV: In the school district sponsorship days, the classes, particularly phys ed activities, were often held in school districts.

VP: Yes, wherever they could find room. And as it grew, then it seems to me there was a place in between School #3 and, I think…

WV: Houghton House?

VP: No, another place. I think they used Houghton House part of the time, but the college itself, the campus was built basically very soon after the referendum. The thing we had trouble with, we got the grade schools and we had to build a lot of grade schools because of the great number of two- and three-room schools. There was one along the river side and one along the north side. The great number we did the grade schools first. Then we got the high schools and you probably remember how long it took us to get that high school referendum. That’s the only time that the public really got upset.

WV: Was the college foundation active while you were at the college and how successful do you feel it was? Who were some of the foundation leaders you remember?

VP: The foundation started out as a small group of individuals. Andy Sturgeon comes to mind. I think he was the one that started it. Basically, it was just one group of individuals that would just find the money to put in the foundation. Then when we regionalized, we decided we had to have a real ongoing foundation. So we have that foundation right now. In fact, we just completed a $4 or $5 million dollar program. Andy Sturgeon and Bud McMahon are the two that I remember starting the foundation. Now it has a board of trustees. It’s regularly incorporated. The local people, Elmira people, Schuyler people, Cornell people, are all on that board and we have one representative from the board of trustees on the foundation. I guess, according to the law, I’m not clear on this, Bill, if it reports to the board of trustees or reports to the president…or to neither!

WV: From what I’ve read in the newspaper, it’s had some very successful fundraising events.

VP: That’s right. We have also had some very successful graduates who have contributed. The Glass Works, again, pledged a significant amount, but a lot of the things we got are spread over five years. We don’t get the cash up front. There was a lot of it restricted to capital projects or a lot restricted to scholarships. But we’re very pleased.

WV: What were some of the most interesting or exciting times, situations or incidents that you were aware of and what were the outcomes?

VP: One of the exciting times for me, of course, was the organization, getting the union, because I’ve been through this. I worked at the Glass Works, not the organization particularly but worked in their union department. That was sort of exciting to me because it was a different way. Things have changed so much. I have a lot of friends in the union up here. Another exciting time was the very short time when the astronaut came up to visit. She’s been on campus a couple of times. What’s her name?

WV: Eileen Collins.

VP: Eileen Collins. She got the one and only award ever passed out to a community college graduate.

WV: The Chancellor’s Award.

VP: Yes. That’s been exciting. She was back a couple of months ago. Of all the people that she met the first time she was here, I walked up to her and she said, “I remember you.” It sort of takes you aback. But I was fortunate enough to see her first blast off. We were in Florida at the time and she sent tickets up. She wasn’t the pilot, of course, but that was an exciting time.

WV: I’d just add that Eileen Collins is a graduate of CorningCommunity College.

VP: Yes, she’s quite a gal. I don’t know if she’s going to fly once more or not, Bill.

WV: I think she’s retiring.

VP: Yes, she’s trying to retire. She has two kids, and all the time she was trying to be an astronaut, she found time to have two kids.

WV: Yes, she’s wonderful. My last graduation was when they gave that award in 1999. It was all a surprise because of the security. We didn’t know it was her.

VP: We knew at the last minute, the trustees I’m talking about. As you recall, right before that she was supposed to be in the Thanksgiving Day Parade or something and she got that nasty phone call. But when I walked up the steps, one of my friends, who is a State Police investigator, was standing at the top and I knew why he was there then. That’s the first anybody knew. As you know, there was a standing ovation when she walked into the graduation. They knew who she was.